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characteristics and classification

Adult California condors are mostly black, with bold white wing linings, and bare red-to-orange head, neck, and crop. Young birds have dark heads that gradually become red as they near adulthood at about six years of age. They forage in open country and feed exclusively on…

conservation and extinction issues

Recent examples include the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus), which has been reintroduced into the wild with some success, and the alala (or Hawaiian crow, Corvus hawaiiensis), which has not. Other species have not been as lucky. In the early 21st century an exhaustive search for the baiji (Lipotes vexillifer), a…

…are illustrated by the California condor. The first key decision was whether to bring the birds into protective custody or to manage their small population in the wild. There was no dispute that the condors were once widespread, ranging across the southern and western United States and northern Mexico. As…